Bioavailability of Orally Delivered Alpha-Tocopherol by Poly(Lactic-Co-Glycolic) Acid (PLGA) Nanoparticles and Chitosan Covered PLGA Nanoparticles in F344 Rats

Use of nanotechnology-based nanomaterial as a substitute for antibiotics in monogastric animals

Nanotechnology has emerged as a promising solution for tackling antibiotic resistance in monogastric animals, providing innovative methods to enhance animal health and well-being. This review explores the novel use of nanotechnology-based nanomaterials as substitutes for antibiotics in monogastric animals. With growing global concerns about antibiotic resistance and the need for sustainable practices in animal husbandry, nanotechnology offers a compelling avenue to address these challenges. The objectives of this review are to find out the potential of nanomaterials in improving animal health while reducing reliance on conventional antibiotics. We examine various forms of nanomaterials and their roles in promoting gut health and also emphasize fresh perspectives brought by integrating nanotechnology into animal healthcare. Additionally, we delve into the mechanisms underlying the antibacterial properties of nanomaterials and their effectiveness in combating microbial resistance. By shedding light on the transformative role of nanotechnology in animal production systems. This review contributes to our understanding of how nanotechnology can provide safer and more sustainable alternatives to antibiotics.

Effect of soluble dietary fiber on soy protein isolate emulsion gel properties, stability and delivery of vitamin D3

Emulsion gels with denser network microstructure and stronger mechanical properties have attracted increasing attentions for delivering lipophilic compounds. In this study, the effect of three distinct soluble dietary fiber (inulin (IN), resistant dextrin (RD) and stachyose (ST)) on the rheological, mechanical and microstructural properties of soy protein isolate (SPI) emulsion gel were firstly investigated. Compared with RD and IN, ST significantly accelerated water holding capacity and thermal stability, which exhibited more compact microstructure and more uniform emulsified oil droplets. Subsequently, the stability and bioavailability of vitamin D3 (VD3) in different delivery systems (medium chain triglycerides (MCT) embedding, SPI-ST emulsion embedding, SPI emulsion gel embedding and SPI-ST emulsion gel embedding) were continue evaluated. In vitro simulated digestion experiment demonstrated that the bioaccessibility of encapsulated VD3 in SPI-ST emulsion gel (69.95 %) was much higher than that of free embedding (48.99 %). In vivo pharmacokinetic experiment revealed that the bioavailability of VD3 was significantly enhanced in SPI-ST gel (p < 0.05), with the AUC0-24h value of 25-OH VD3 (the main circulating form of VD3) were 1.34-fold, 1.23-fold higher than that of free embedding, MCT embedding, respectively. These findings provide a possible approach for the development of high protein/fiber functional foods containing enhanced hydrophobic bioactives.

Nano vitamin E improved the antioxidant capacity of broiler chickens

Vitamin E (VE) is a potent nutritional antioxidant that is critical in alleviating poultry oxidative stress. However, the hydrophobic nature and limited stability of VE restrict its effective utilization. Nanotechnology offers a promising approach to enhance the bioavailability of lipophilic vitamins. The objective of this experiment was to investigate the effects of different sources and addition levels of VE on the growth performance, antioxidant capacity, VE absorption site, and pharmacokinetics of Arbor Acres (AA) broilers. Three hundred and eighty-four 1-d-old AA chicks were randomly allocated into four groups supplemented with 30 and 75 IU/kg VE as regular or nano. The results showed that dietary VE sources had no significant impact on broiler growth performance. However, chickens fed 30 IU/kg VE had a higher average daily gain at 22 to 42 d and 1 to 42 d, and lower feed conversion ratio at 22 to 42 d than 75 IU/kg VE (P < 0.05). Under normal feeding conditions, broilers fed nano VE (NVE) displayed significantly higher superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) enzyme activities and lower malonic dialdehyde (MDA) concentration (P < 0.05). Similarly, NVE had a higher antioxidant effect in the dexamethasone-constructed oxidative stress model. It was found that nanosizing technology had no significant effect on the absorption of VE in the intestinal tract by examining the concentration of VE in the intestinal tract (P > 0.05). However, compared to broilers perfused with regular VE (RVE), the NVE group displayed notably higher absorption rates at 11.5 and 14.5 h (P < 0.05). Additionally, broilers perfused with NVE showed a significant increase in the area under the concentration versus time curve from zero to infinity (AUC0-∞), mean residence time (MRT0-∞), elimination half-life (t1/2z), and peak concentration (Cmax) of VE in plasma (P < 0.05). In summary, nanotechnology provides more effective absorption and persistence of VE in the blood circulation for broilers, which is conducive to the function of VE and further improves the antioxidant performance of broilers.

Electrophoretic Deposition, Microstructure, and Selected Properties of Poly(lactic-co-glycolic) Acid-Based Antibacterial Coatings on Mg Substrate

There is an urgent need to develop biodegradable implants that can degrade once they have fulfilled their function. Commercially pure magnesium (Mg) and its alloys have the potential to surpass traditional orthopedic implants due to their good biocompatibility and mechanical properties, and most critically, biodegradability. The present work focuses on the synthesis and characterization (microstructural, antibacterial, surface, and biological properties) of poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA)/henna (Lawsonia inermis)/Cu-doped mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles (Cu-MBGNs) composite coatings deposited via electrophoretic deposition (EPD) on Mg substrates. PLGA/henna/Cu-MBGNs composite coatings were robustly deposited on Mg substrates using EPD, and their adhesive strength, bioactivity, antibacterial activity, corrosion resistance, and biodegradability were thoroughly investigated. Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies confirmed the uniformity of the coatings' morphology and the presence of functional groups that were attributable to PLGA, henna, and Cu-MBGNs, respectively. The composites exhibited good hydrophilicity with an average roughness of 2.6 μm, indicating desirable properties for bone forming cell attachment, proliferation, and growth. Crosshatch and bend tests confirmed that the adhesion of the coatings to Mg substrates and their deformability were adequate. Electrochemical Tafel polarization tests revealed that the composite coating adjusted the degradation rate of Mg substrate in a human physiological environment. Incorporating henna into PLGA/Cu-MBGNs composite coatings resulted in antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The coatings stimulated the proliferation and growth of osteosarcoma MG-63 cells during the initial incubation period of 48 h (determined by the WST-8 assay).

Tocotrienol in the Treatment of Topical Wounds: Recent Updates

Healing wounds is an important attempt to keep the internal higher organs safe. Complications in topical wound healing may lead to the formation of scars, which can affect the patient's quality of life. Although several approaches are ongoing in parallel in the exploration of natural compounds via advanced delivery, in this article, an attempt has been made to highlight tocotrienol. Tocotrienol is a natural form of vitamin E and has shown its potential in certain pharmacological activities better than tocopherol. Its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, cell signal-mediating effects, angiogenic properties, management of scar, and promotion of wound environment with essential factors have shown potential in the management of topical wound healing. Therefore, this review has aimed to focus on recent advances in topical wound healing through the application of tocotrienols. Challenges in delivering tocotrienols to the topical wound due to its large molecular weight and higher logP have also been explored using nanotechnological-based carriers, which has made tocotrienol a potential tool to facilitate the closure of wounds. Exploration of tocotrienol has also been made in human volunteers for biopsy wounds; however, the results are yet to be reported. Overall, based on the current findings in the literature, it could be inferred that tocotrienol would be a viable alternative to the existing wound dressing components for the management of topical wounds.

Formulation, Characterization and Cytotoxicity Effects of Novel Thymoquinone-PLGA-PF68 Nanoparticles

Thymoquinone has anti-cancer properties. However, its application for clinical use is limited due to its volatile characteristics. The current study aims to develop a polymeric nanoformulation with PLGA-PEG and Pluronics F68 as encapsulants to conserve thymoquinone’s (TQ) biological activity before reaching the target sites. Synthesis of nanoparticles was successfully completed by encapsulating TQ with polymeric poly (D, L-lactide-co-glycolide)-block-poly (ethylene glycol) and Pluronics F68 (TQ-PLGA-PF68) using an emulsion–solvent evaporation technique. The size and encapsulation efficiency of TQ-PLGA-PF68 nanoparticles were 76.92 ± 27.38 nm and 94%, respectively. TQ released from these encapsulants showed a biphasic released pattern. Cytotoxicity activity showed that tamoxifen-resistant (TamR) MCF-7 breast cancer cells required a higher concentration of TQ-PLGA-PF68 nanoparticles than the parental MCF-7 cells to achieve IC₅₀ (p < 0.05). The other two resistant subtypes (TamR UACC732 inflammatory breast carcinoma and paclitaxel-resistant (PacR) MDA-MB 231 triple-negative breast cell line) required a lower concentration of TQ-PLGA-PF68 nanoparticles compared to their respective parental cell lines (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that TQ encapsulation with PLGA-PEG and Pluronics F68 is a promising anti-cancer agent in mitigating breast cancer resistance to chemotherapeutics. In future studies, the anti-cancer activity of TQ-PLGA-PF68 with the standard chemotherapeutic drugs used for breast cancer treatment is recommended.

Advancing skin delivery of α-tocopherol and γ-tocotrienol for dermatitis treatment via nanotechnology and microwave technology

This study investigated combination nanocarrier and microwave system for α-tocopherol and γ-tocotrienol delivery against dermatitis, without skin thinning effect of steroids. The vitamin E was formulated into water-rich/water-poor nanoemulsions, and had their droplet size, zeta potential, morphology, therapeutic content, encapsulation efficiency and release, in vitro skin therapeutics/nanoemulsion penetration, retention and permeation profiles, and in vivo pharmacodynamics characteristics examined, with skin pre-treated by precision microwave when applicable. The nanoemulsions had droplet sizes <150 nm and negative zeta potential values. The skin pre-treatment by microwave (1 mW/3985 MHz) promoted therapeutics accumulation in epidermis through enhancing nanoemulsion penetration into skin. The combination nano- and microwave technologies fluidized skin lipid and protein domains with epidermal microstructures being fluidized to a greater extent than dermis, allowing a relatively high epidermal-to-dermal nanoemulsion distribution. Microwave of lower or higher than 3985 MHz brought about lower skin therapeutics/nanoemulsion accumulation due to insufficient lipid/protein domain fluidization or microwave-skin interaction limiting at skin surfaces only. Using water-rich nanoemulsion with higher therapeutic release and skin pre-treatment with 3985 MHz microwave, dermatitis was alleviated in vivo without skin thinning of standard steroid. The use of combination microwave and nanotechnology promotes vitamin delivery and translates to positive dermatitis treatment outcome that warrants future investigation.

Pharmacology and Pharmacokinetics of Vitamin E: Nanoformulations to Enhance Bioavailability

Vitamin E belongs to the family of lipid-soluble vitamins and can be divided into two groups, tocopherols and tocotrienols, with four isomers (alpha, beta, gamma and delta). Although vitamin E is widely known as a potent antioxidant, studies have also revealed that vitamin E possesses anti-inflammatory properties. These crucial properties of vitamin E are beneficial in various aspects of health, especially in neuroprotection and cardiovascular, skin and bone health. However, the poor bioavailability of vitamin E, especially tocotrienols, remains a great limitation for clinical applications. Recently, nanoformulations that include nanovesicles, solid-lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carriers, nanoemulsions, and polymeric nanoparticles have shown promising outcomes in improving the efficacy and bioavailability of vitamin E. This review focuses on the pharmacological properties and pharmacokinetics of vitamin E and current advances in vitamin E nanoformulations for future clinical applications. The limitations and future recommendations are also discussed in this review.

A Reevaluation of Chitosan-Decorated Nanoparticles to Cross the Blood-Brain Barrier

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a sophisticated and very selective dynamic interface composed of endothelial cells expressing enzymes, transport systems, and receptors that regulate the passage of nutrients, ions, oxygen, and other essential molecules to the brain, regulating its homeostasis. Moreover, the BBB performs a vital function in protecting the brain from pathogens and other dangerous agents in the blood circulation. Despite its crucial role, this barrier represents a difficult obstacle for the treatment of brain diseases because many therapeutic agents cannot cross it. Thus, different strategies based on nanoparticles have been explored in recent years. Concerning this, chitosan-decorated nanoparticles have demonstrated enormous potential for drug delivery across the BBB and treatment of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, gliomas, cerebral ischemia, and schizophrenia. Our main objective was to highlight the high potential of chitosan adsorption to improve the penetrability through the BBB of nanoformulations for diseases of CNS. Therefore, we describe the BBB structure and function, as well as the routes of chitosan for crossing it. Moreover, we define the methods of decoration of nanoparticles with chitosan and provide numerous examples of their potential utilization in a variety of brain diseases. Lastly, we discuss future directions, mentioning the need for extensive characterization of proposed nanoformulations and clinical trials for evaluation of their efficacy.

Investigating Novel Syntheses of a Series of Unique Hybrid PLGA-Chitosan Polymers for Potential Therapeutic Delivery Applications

Discovering new materials to aid in the therapeutic delivery of drugs is in high demand. PLGA, a FDA approved polymer, is well known in the literature to form films or nanoparticles that can load, protect, and deliver drug molecules; however, its incompatibility with certain drugs (due to hydrophilicity or charge repulsion interactions) limits its use. Combining PLGA or other polymers such as polycaprolactone with other safe and positively-charged molecules, such as chitosan, has been sought after to make hybrid systems that are more flexible in terms of loading ability, but often the reactions for polymer coupling use harsh conditions, films, unpurified products, or create a single unoptimized product. In this work, we aimed to investigate possible innovative improvements regarding two synthetic procedures. Two methods were attempted and analytically compared using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and dynamic scanning calorimetry (DSC) to furnish pure, homogenous, and tunable PLGA-chitosan hybrid polymers. These were fully characterized by analytical methods. A series of hybrids was produced that could be used to increase the suitability of PLGA with previously non-compatible drug molecules.

Vitamin E-Loaded PLA- and PLGA-Based Core-Shell Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Structure Optimization and Controlled Drug Release

The (±)-α-Tocopherol (TP) with vitamin E activity has been encapsulated into biocompatible poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) carriers, which results in the formation of well-defined nanosized (d ~200–220 nm) core-shell structured particles (NPs) with 15–19% of drug loading (DL%). The optimal ratios of the polymer carriers, the TP active drug as well as the applied Pluronic F127 (PLUR) non-ionic stabilizing surfactant, have been determined to obtain NPs with a TP core and a polymer shell with high encapsulation efficiency (EE%) (69%). The size and the structure of the prepared core-shell NPs as well as the interaction of the carriers and the PLUR with the TP molecules have been determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and turbidity studies, respectively. Moreover, the dissolution of the TP from the polymer NPs has been investigated by spectrophotometric measurements. It was clearly confirmed that increase in the EE% from ca. 70% (PLA/TP) to ca. 88% (PLGA65/TP) results in the controlled release of the hydrophobic TP molecules (7 h, PLA/TP: 34%; PLGA75/TP: 25%; PLGA65/TP: 18%). By replacing the PLA carrier to PLGA, ca. 15% more active substance can be encapsulated in the core (PLA/TP: 65%; PLGA65/TP: 80%).

Gold-chrysophanol nanoparticles suppress human prostate cancer progression through inactivating AKT expression and inducing apoptosis and ROS generation in vitro and in vivo

Controlled releasing of regulations remains the most convenient method to deliver various drugs. In the present study, we precipitated gold nanoparticles with chrysophanol. The gold-chrysophanol into poly (DL-lactide-co-glycolide) nanoparticles was loaded and the biological activity of chrysophanol nanoparticles on human LNCap prostate cancer cells, was tested to acquire the sustained releasing property. The circular dichroism spectroscopy indicated that chrysophanol nanoparticles effectively resulted in conformational alterations in DNA and regulated different proteins associated with cell cycle arrest. The reactive oxygen species (ROS), apoptosis, cell cycle, DNA damage, Cyto-c and caspase-3 activity were analyzed, and the expression levels of different anti- and pro-apoptotic were studied using immunoblotting analysis. The cytotoxicity assay suggested that chrysophanol nanoparticles preferentially killed prostate cancer cells in comparison to the normal cells. Chrysophanol nanoparticles reduced histone deacetylases (HDACs) to suppress cell proliferation and induce apoptosis by arresting the cell cycle in sub-G phase. In addition, the cell cycle-related proteins, including p27, CHK1, cyclin D1, CDK1, p-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and p-protein kinase B (AKT), were regulated by chrysophanol nanoparticles to prevent human prostate cancer cell progression. Chrysophanol nanoparticles induced apoptosis in LNCap cells by promoting p53/ROS crosstalk to prevent proliferation. Pharmacokinetic study in mice indicated that chrysophanol nanoparticle injection showed high bioavailability compared to the free chrysophanol. Also, in vivo study revealed that chrysophanol nanoparticles obviously reduced tumor volume and weight. In conclusion, the data above suggested that chrysophanol nanoparticles might be effective to prevent human prostate cancer progression.

Poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid nanoparticles improve oral bioavailability of hypocrellin A in rat

The release of HA from PLGA/HA NPs was carried by dissolving PLGA/HA NPs in artificial gastric (pH 1.5), intestinal (pH 6.8) and blood (pH 7.4) media.